


5 Times Where Gyro and Fenton, Who Really Should Know Better, Didn't Even Think About Basic Lab Safety

by SundayZenith



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Gen, Huey shows up for like two seconds, I wrote half of this before passing out last night and the other half in between classes, Like, That's it, The title is more entertaining than the fic for the record, They injure themselves because they didn't tie their hair out of their faces, feathair, hair? feathers?, remember your lab safety kids, this is a pretty straight forward fic, this uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 21:47:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17516444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SundayZenith/pseuds/SundayZenith
Summary: And one time they actually tied their hair back.





	5 Times Where Gyro and Fenton, Who Really Should Know Better, Didn't Even Think About Basic Lab Safety

(I)

Gyro didn’t have high hopes for his new intern. Sure he was smart, Gyro had to acknowledge that, and one glance at his resume showed he had probably been a part of basically every charity and humanitarian event ever held in Duckburg, but he’d barely been in the building five minutes, he had nearly fallen down the elevator shaft, tearing his clip on tie off in the process. _Clutzes_ and _Scientific Mastery_ never went together well.

 

It would be a miracle if li’l Bulb didn’t tear him apart, let alone Project Blatherskite.

 

And Gyro was convinced his beak was actually two same charged magnets because they were _nowhere near each other._

 

“-Of course, my _mamá’s_ been on me to learn how to tie a real tie- it’s just its so each to lose track of the front and the back, and the back end always ends up longer- not- not that I couldn’t learn how- I mean, all it would take is one good online tutorial- though basically every tutorial I’ve found has been good in some way-”

 

While on one hand the overlap between people qualified to work at Bulb Tech and the people who would do so for free was very slim, Gyro still vaguely wondered if there was anything on those patronizing notecards Mr. McDuck insisted would help his socially about how to fire someone when you couldn’t even remember their names.

 

It was something unremarkable, like Frank or Flynn, he was sure about that. The name part of resumes was the least important detail to Gyro. He knew for a fact that the intern’s last name was Crackshell Cabrera, partially because the guy seems very proud of it, partially because Gyro vaguely remembered being scolded by a police officer named Cabrera when he was a teenager who mentioned having a son named Frank or Flynn who’d be this guy’s age around now, and mainly because if there ever was a person befitting of the name “Crackshell,” it was this _ditzy dolt_.

 

“-always wanted to try a bowtie in fact, I’ve always looked up to you, Dr. Gearloose, I mean graduating university as young as you had been? Anyway, like I was saying, I could link you that tutorial on how to tie a regular tie into a bow-”

 

“Ah-hem. The tour?” Gyro adjusted his glasses, pointedly looking over them at his new intern- everything beyond where his fingertips could reach was a hopeless blur- in more ways than one- but he had found that, combined with his height, it made him look more intimidating.

 

“Right, sorry,” the intern said, grinning apologetically up at him. He was blessedly silent for a few moments as Gyro pointed out the blueprints, the emergency gates if they windows ever cracked, and the corner li’l Bulb had recently claimed as his own. Gyro way about to point to the bathroom, when- “It really is an honor, working with you, Dr. Gearloose-”

 

“Oh stop your _blubbering_ you- you _Blatherskite_ of a-!” Gyro snapped, calling him the first thing that came to mind, before cutting himself off. Steam filled the room as the panel he had installed in the floor opened.

 

He made a mental note to work out the remaining kinks in Project Blatherskite’s vocal recognition system as he shouted “ _Get down!_ ”

 

He ducked behind some boxes he hadn’t gotten around to clearing away, and peeked over them to see the _soon-to-be dead moron_ he had hired as an intern was staring in awe as the half-finished suit rose from the ground. He had barely taken a single step back, then actually stepped forward, his arm outstretched.

 

“I said get down, Mr. McDuck will not tolerate the lawsuit that’ll come from this!” Gyro half-hoped that Officer Cabrera had no relation to the intern, or was at least retired. She had actually been quite intimidating, even if she hadn’t even come up to his shoulders back then. The intern didn’t listen, mesmerized by the suit, which seemed to be looking down upon him, judging him, almost. Gyro actually felt a twinge of fear, though he would never admit it. He didn’t want to watch someone be obliterated in front of him, and he certainly didn’t want to dismantle what might be his greatest work yet. “Hey _, dummy_!”

 

That seemed to break the intern’s spell. He turned to look at Gyro, thankfully stepping back.

 

Unfortunately, he had startled the suit.

 

Gyro dived at the button that would recage the suit, but before he could reach it, a panel opened in the chest, and a laser shot out.

 

The intern luckily jumped to the side- or was thrown aside by the blast, Gyro wasn’t sure. Gyro slammed the button.

 

The suit shot out a few more lasers, thankfully not hitting any blueprints- Gyro would have disemboweled it if if had, _magnum opus_ or not- though it did turn those boxes to ash immediately. Good, that’s actually what Gyro had installed the lasers for.

 

A dazed “wow” came from behind him. Gyro looked at the intern, who’s hair was now on fire and who looked overjoyed instead of ready to sue. He had been knocked back at set of blueprints for li’l Bulb.

 

Which then caught fire from his hair.

 

Gyro screeched, and the intern, having finally noticed his burning hair, joined him.

 

-

(II)

Gyro was a _scientist_ and a _genius_.

 

While he worked mainly in robotics, not medicine; engineering, not philosophy; and quantum physics, not chemistry, he was still familiar enough with each subject. He was _the_ McDuck Enterprises Head Scientist for a reason.

 

Even if it was taking him a moment to identify the components in the glass before him- he was fairly certain it contained sodium hypochlorite, though it wasn’t having much reaction to the flames of the bunsen burner. That was probably a good thing in the long run- Mr. McDuck hated having to repair the lab every time it blew up and had hinted that he would have Gyro pay out of pocket himself the next time it happened.

 

Gyro rubbed his eyes- he had recently updated his glasses prescription, and his eyes seemed determined _not_ to adjust- and leaned closer, squinting at the liquid. It was bubbling slightly, though it was doing so without any consistency. White wisps where starting to rise from it. Whatever it was, it had more or less purified the sample of ocean water he had used it on- not that he was willing to drink it, purified or not- and his intern had spent the better part of the morning going on about how, if they could just break it down, they could solve every water crisis and provide safe drinking water for everyone. Or something along that line, Gyro had taken to tuning out his rambles- trying to unravel this substance was giving him a headache.

 

He had also taken to wearing noise canceling headphones.

 

His intern was waving at him from the corner of his eye- or maybe he was doing an interpretive dance, you can never know with that guy.

 

Gyro turned the burner up. His intern had taken that moment to grab his arm. Gyro nearly knocked the bottle over with his elbow.

 

“ _What_?” he snapped, pulling the headphones off.

 

His intern seemed frantic. “Sir, your _hair_.”

 

His bangs were _smoking_ , clinging to his forehead and dangling in front of his blinking, burning eyes.

 

His eyes that shouldn’t even be burning in the first place.

 

His intern dragged him to the shower in the corner as Gyro tried desperately not to claw at his face, shouting“ _Are you kidding me!? I just got my glasses prescription renewed!_ ”

 

-

(III)

Fenton paused his writing long enough to pick up the wrench and hold it out. Dr. Gearloose took it without even looking up.

 

It was exhilarating, watching him work on the Gizmosuit. Fenton wanted desperately to help directly, leaning in as close as he could without disturbing Dr. Gearloose. The gears in the suit, the bolts and magnets, all the tubing and _arms_ \- it was amazing how much was concealed inside. Fenton didn’t even know all the functions of the suit, and he had no only poured over Dr. Gearloose’s blueprints, he had been _inside_ of it.

 

He could already tell- he could do _so much_ for Duckburg as Gizmoduck.

 

So far, Dr. Gearloose had only had him test his movement and reflexes- mainly for the suit’s sake, as it had been damaged somewhat during the race at the ravine.

 

Dr. Gearloose held out his hand. Fenton already had the screwdriver ready- while at first glance the suit seemed overwhelmingly complicated, parts of it reminded him of the time he had reverse engineered an old optical disc drive for his _mamá’s_ coworker, something he had mentioned to Dr. Gearloose earlier, accidentally almost causing him to drop his coffee. He had been sent to his “room” for most of the morning because of that, and spent it realphabetizing Dr. Gearloose’s papers.

 

Manny stomped a few times to get their attention. Dr. Gearloose didn’t seem to notice, so Fenton reached out to nudge him.

 

Dr. Gearloose slapped his hand away. “I heard, I heard.” His head popped out of the suit, grease painting his beak. “ _What?_ ”

 

_PHONE CALL FOR YOU. IT'S THE BOARD_ , Manny tapped out.

 

“Ugh. _those guys_ ,” Dr. Gearloose wiped his hands, then pointed sharply at Fenton. “ _Don’t_ even _think_ about touching anything. You-” he turned towards Manny “-babysit him or something.”

 

As he walked away, Fenton couldn’t help but take a closer look. Manny, despite their _deep rooted rivalry_ , didn’t try to stop him.

 

He opened to a new page and began drawing the internal structure as best he could, muttering unconsciously to himself, “Bar-like structure with heating component… gears, to be expected...Spring locks holding everything in place… until password _Blathering Blatherskite_ is sai- no no _nononowait!_ ”

 

The suit convulsed, the gears turning. Fenton turned his face away in time, but a sharp pain across his scalp stopped him.

 

His hair was caught in the gear.

 

“Suit! Suit, stop! Manny, _no!_ ”

 

Manny, panicking, jumped on the suit. His hoofs stopped the gears, but no without a painful screech. Fenton couldn’t turn his head to see if there was any damage.

 

_“What did I say?”_ Dr. Gearloose’s voice call from the other room. Fenton jerked back- or tried to. “ _Ugh, li’l Bulb, go make sure those_ idiots _are still alive._ ”

 

_I’M ALREADY DEAD, TECHNICALLY._

 

_“And I am_ not _in the mood. There better not be anything broken._ ”

 

Fenton’s neck was already sore. He tried to grip the edges of the suit. “Maybe- maybe if I just- move slowly, I’ll be able to get _\- owowow_ Manny _help_.”

 

_I GOT IT._

 

Fenton turned his head as best he could to see Manny holding one of the shoulder blades between his hoofs.

 

-

(IV)

Fenton, technically, didn’t work _for_ Dr. Gearloose anymore. They weren’t exactly co-workers either, and he had a feeling Gyro wouldn’t appreciate him calling them partners.

 

They just worked very closely together on Project Blatherskite, which meant Fenton still spent most days in the lab, even if he was officially listed as an accountant on Mr. McDuck’s payroll- or was it a financial advisor? Mr. McDuck had said something about him masquerading as a “bean counter,” though Fenton never actually knew what he meant by that.

 

He and Manny had gained a mutual respect for each other- possibly due to them no longer posing a risk to the other’s job- he actually had a _job_ , as in one that _paid_ and had _health insurance_ , and, despite everything, Fenton never felt more safe of at ease in his life.

 

Even if he had a splitting headache. And had nearly chipped his beak off after nearly free falling three stories. And someone was screaming.

 

“....Someone’s screaming!” He sat up, dislodging the ice bag they had started keeping in the lab. “Blathering-”

 

He cut himself off, having caught sight of who the screaming was coming from.

 

Dr. Gearloose was running off-kilter through the lab, li’l Bulb perched on his head, hair in wire-hand. Li’l Bulb tugged the hair in his left hand and Dr. Gearloose began running in that direction, all while shouting, “No! Let go- _owow_ obey your father- li’l Bulb _gah_ I will give you an allowance just so I can do _ahh_ ck it!”

 

Fenton made eye contact with Manny (or as close as you can get to eye contact with someone who had a statue for a head). “Should I…?”

 

_I’LL HANDLE THIS_ , Manny tapped out.

 

-

(V)

Huey had been stopping by the lab more and more often, apparently having decided to implant himself into all things Gizmoduck. This was fair, in Manny’s opinion, given the fact he had been the one to propose using a host as the core processor and the fact that he had more or less done brain surgery on Fenton with enough time to spare for him to get rid of the old processor before it exploded.

 

He was a smart kid, and Manny wouldn’t be surprised if he one day took up the mantle of McDuck Enterprises Head Scientist.

 

He was also amusing, in his own way.

 

“I mean, I love aquatic life as much as the next guy, but I feel like I’m missing something here. Is there a reason so many scientists are drawn to having underwater layers? Natural coolant system, beautiful life just waiting to be studied inches away…”

 

“I thought you _weren’t_ the annoying one,” Gearloose huffed, laying face down in the water currently flooding the floor.

 

“If the pursuit of knowledge and safety is ‘annoying,’ then-”

 

“Save it.”

 

Gearloose sat up with a groan. He hadn’t been hit with a full hit with a full blast of water. He had, however, been hit by Fenton who was blasted by the water and who Gyro was currently shoving off his back.

 

“Does this kind of thing happen often,” Huey asked, helping Fenton up. “Because if it does-”

 

“ _Save it_.”

 

“What even happened, again?” Fenton asked, peeking through a curtain of hair.

 

Gearloose clawed his bangs out of his face, which immediately fell limply back into his eyes. “ _Somebody_ ,” he glared at Manny, who shrugged, “cracked the window.”

 

_HIGH WATER PRESSURE_.

 

“You know…” Huey began.

 

“I said _save the boy scout lecture_ -”

 

“You could have dodged that,” Huey went on. “ _Both_ of you, if your hair hadn’t been in your faces. It is clearly state in the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, as well in most lab textbooks, that one of the most important parts of Lab Safety is keeping your hair out of your faces.”

 

Fenton chuckled nervously. “I think I remember reading something like that…”

 

“Whatever. Mop,” Gearloose pinched the bridge between his eyes. “Has anyone seen my glasses? I can’t see anything- not that there’s anything here I want to see.”

 

“I thought being basically blind without your glasses was a stereotype?” Huey asked.

 

“Oh it is,” Fenton jumped in. “Dr. Gearloose’s eyes have just been damaged over the years by exposure to flashes of light and chemicals-”

 

Gearloose threw his hands in the air. “Where did I put those noise canceling headphones?”

 

“Those were noise canceling? I’ve always wondered why it took you so long to hear my warnings about the bleach compound getting in your hair.”

 

It was comical, how Gearloose’s face contorted as Huey opened his mouth to quote directly from his guidebook. Manny felt a little bad for li’l Bulb, who had been washed away by the initial blast of water and would likely need to be rebuild- or or at the very least need to spend the night in a bag of rice. He would have either hated or loved Huey Duck.

 

-

(+1)

Huey’s friend (or was she his cousin? Sister? Fenton felt guilty at not being sure, while Gyro didn’t really care) had graciously donated some of her and her grandmother’s spare hair ties and bobby pins.

 

Gyro had initially tried just showing his bangs under his hat, but the shorter strands kept poking through. Normally, he wouldn’t have bothered, but he had a feeling Huey would reel his uncle in on “proper lab safety etiquette,” pointing out how an “unsafe environment” would lead to more medical bills in the long run.

 

So, with a sign, several curses, and a lecture of his own to li’l Bulb on why he should not imitate any hand gestures he might have made in his frustration before backtracking and telling him to go ahead, the world deserves it, Gyro had pinned his hair back against his skull.

 

He was grateful he as least had a hat to hide the monstrosity on his head. Fenton had manages to pull most of his hair back into a small ponytail, but not all of it. He had somehow missed an entire clump up frond and several strands had escaped the hair tie, flying away from his face.

 

“Need a few of these?” Gyro’s tone dripped with exasperation, pulling a bobby pin out from under his hat.

 

“I- probably, yes. Thank you sir- I’ll probably have to redo my hair later- I don’t think this,” he pointed at the ponytail, “will fit under the Gizmosuit’s helmet.”

 

“Not my fault you have such an oversized forehead.”

 

“I feel kind of bad, sir,” he went on, because of course he did, “I actually broke two of Webby’s hair ties-on- on accident, of course.”

 

Gyro sighed. “Why did you have to make friends with the responsible one? The green one can at least be bargained with.”

 

_DIDN’T HE SHRINK YOU_ , Manny cut it, donning his lab coat. _AND STEAL LITTLE BULB THAT ONE TIME?_

 

“I didn’t say I _liked_ him.” Gyro kicked a wrench with more force than intended. It bounced off a wall and knocked over a prototype addon he had planned on adding to li’l Bulb later for self defense.

 

Which, promptly, exploded.

 

Gyro and Fenton ducked before the wrench even landed. Save a small fire on Gyro’s shoulder, which he unceremoniously brushed out, they were fine.

 

_MAYBE YOU TWO SHOULD CONSIDER WEARING LAB COATS YOURSELVES._

 

Gyro, with quick calculation and a spare hair tie, hit Manny in the back of the head with the bobby pin.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: Sunshine-Zenith


End file.
